Thomas BICKEL

I am a Professor of Physics at the University of Bordeaux. I develop my research activities in the Condensed Matter Theory team of the Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d’Aquitaine.

My research focuses on the hydrodynamics of soft matter, with particular emphasis on fundamental issues that involve the coupling of fluid mechanics with statistical physics and transport phenomena. The scope of my work includes, but is not limited to, active colloids, confined Brownian motion, interfacial dynamics, Marangoni flows, and low-Reynolds number instabilities.

Picture gallery

Recent publications

2025
D. Kumar, P.K. Panigrahi, and T. Bickel, Competition between thermocapillary and solutocapillary flows in thin liquid films, Phys. Fluids 37, 022134 (2025) [arXiv]
2024
T. Bickel, Blockage of thermocapillary flows by surface-active impurities, Phys. Rev. Fluids 9, 104001 (2024) [arXiv]
T. Bickel and S. Amiroudine, Interfacial fluid dynamics, Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 233, 1515 (2024) [OpenAccess]
2023
Z. Zhang, V. Bertin, M.H. Essink, H. Zhang, N. Fares, Z. Shen, T. Bickel, T. Salez, and A. Maali, Unsteady drag force on an immersed sphere oscillating near a wall, J. Fluid Mech. 977, A21 (2023) [arXiv]
2022
T. Bickel and F. Detcheverry, Exact solutions for viscous Marangoni spreading, Phys. Rev. E 106, 045107 (2022) [arXiv]
2021
C. Clavaud, M. Maza-Cuello, C. Frétigny, L. Talini, and T. Bickel, Modification of the fluctuation dynamics of ultra-thin wetting films, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 228004 (2021) [arXiv]
G. Koleski, A. Vilquin, J.-C. Loudet, B. Pouligny, and T. Bickel, Surfactant-driven instabilities of a divergent flow, Phys. Rev. Fluids 6, 094001 (2021) [arXiv]
2020
G. Koleski and T. Bickel, Stokes equation in a semi-infinite region: Generalization of the Lamb solution and applications to Marangoni flows, Fluids 5, 249 (2020) [arXiv]
G. Koleski, A. Vilquin, J.-C. Loudet, T. Bickel and B. Pouligny, Azimuthal instability of the radial thermocapillary flow around a hot bead trapped at the water-air interface, Phys. Fluids 32, 092108 (2020) [arXiv]